Hyderabad: The death of a newborn child at Suryapet Government General Hospital on September 17 due to severe asphyxia and shock, has raised several questions over the stress imposed on government hospitals to conduct normal deliveries. The matter has also highlighted the way normal deliveries are performed, and the timing of referring a pregnant woman to another hospital during her labour.
Jilla Renuka, a resident of Gurrampodu Thanda of Mathampalli mandal in Suryapet district, was admitted to Huzurnagar Area Hospital with labour pains on September 15, at around 7 am.
According to a news report based on Renuka’s family members’ statements, she developed severe labour pains by evening. As the duty doctor at the hospital wasn’t available, the nurses called another doctor who reached the hospital and told them that a normal delivery wasn’t possible. The doctor asked Renuka’s husband Nagaraju to take her to Suryapet Government General Hospital for a C-Section delivery.
As it was already 3 am on September 16, and Renuka’s labour pains had become unbearable, so her family members urged the nurses to perform her delivery. As the nurses were delivering the child, Renuka started screaming due to pain.
The news report says that the nurses held Renuka’s abdomen and forcefully pulled out the baby from the womb in their effort to perform a normal delivery. As the baby was found to be in a critical condition, the doctor referred the baby to Suryapet Government Hospital in the morning. The report says that the baby died after 12 hours of observation under a ventilator at Suryapet hospital.
As per the report, Renuka’s husband lodged a complaint at Huzurnagar police station alleging medical negligence, but the police had asked him to come back with the reports. The Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare, after a detailed investigation by the district medical and health officer, claimed in a statement to media that Renuka didn’t cooperate for normal delivery, and her family members wanted to leave the hospital.
“As she was in active labor, counselling and motivation for normal delivery was given to the patient and her attenders, but she remained uncooperative throughout examination and complained and wanting caesarean section,” the report read.
“During the preparation for an emergency C-Section, the patient progressed into labour and delivered the baby at around 3 am. As the baby did not cry after delivery, resuscitation was done by a Specialist but no respiratory moments were found. The baby was intubated and ventilated with oxygen and ambubag and immediately shifted to Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) at GGH Suryapet accompanied by the Midwives in an ambulance arranged by AH Huzurnagar,” the report issued on Thursday stated.
The point of contention is whether a doctor was present during the delivery, or whether the nurses performed it, as being alleged by Nagaraju. According to Dr Praveen Kumar, the hospital superintendent who is also a pediatrician, had examined the baby immediately after the birth and referred the baby to SNCU, Suryapet Government Hospital. Dr Sindhu was the duty doctor was present during the delivery.
According to a police official in Huzurnagar who spoke with Siasat.com on condition of anonymity, Nagaraju wanted to see the CCTV footage of the hospital to check whether the duty doctor was present or not.
The police official said that upon checking the CCTV footage it was found that the duty doctor was very much present during the delivery, and that even Nagaraju was asked by the staff performing the delivery, to come inside and convince his wife to cooperate with the staff for a normal delivery.
“He may not have recognised the doctor in the delivery room. Someone must have told him that there was no doctor during the delivery, the reason why he wanted to check the CCTV footage. The child was their first baby, and that too a male baby,” the police official said.
Speaking about the condition of the baby after getting admitted to Suryapet Government Hospital, Dr K Rajya Lakshmi, gynaecologist and superintendent of the hospital, told Siasat.com that the baby was brought to the hospital on ventilator support, and was placed on the same for 24 hours, after which the baby died
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